The RedSky E911 Blog

Interview with a First Responder Series: Ed Lane, Part Two

Tuesday, July 30, 2019 - 9:00am

Interview with a First Responder Series: Ed Lane, Part Two

Two weeks ago, we shared the first part of our interview with Ed Lane, father of Katie Lane our Northeast Regional Sales Director, and long-time first responder. He discussed the importance of automatic location information attached to 9-1-1 calls, resulting from extensive experience with 9-1-1 callers that cannot provide a clear location of emergency. Ed also discussed the benefit of simultaneous notification of an emergency to both internal security teams at larger enterprises, or campuses, as well as the nearest PSAP. Real-time notifications for both on-site security and the dispatcher reduces potential miscommunications, and lessens the time it takes for the caller to receive help.

In case you missed part one, by reaching out to first responders, we are hoping to reconnect to our original mission, and illuminate the importance of emergency preparedness. The act of grounding our innovations in real people, and learning from them exactly what is necessary in emergency situations, propels us to sharpen our focus and continue developing the most dynamic E911 solutions on the market.

Ed on Three-Dimensional Location Information, and Keeping it Simple

Ed:

I want you guys to figure out three-dimensions. I want you to get the (local hotel) to buy the three-dimensional package. So you can send that to the dispatchers.

Katie:

Well, we do have a product, our E911 Manager® product for example, will find “Room 1016”, (local hotel), and then route it to the right PSAP. If they have the Manager down to each phone level.

Ed:

Right, and that’s part of what I’m getting at. That’s very definitely a big selling point in my mind. If you’re in a room, how many people pick up a phone in a hotel room, and even think how to use it? You dial 9-1-1.

Katie:

Well, that touches on Kari’s Law, which I’m not sure if you’re familiar with, Dad. But, a bunch of years back a woman had escaped from her abusive husband, and brought her daughter to a hotel to get away from him. He actually found her, and proceeded to beat her to death. And, this little daughter knew enough to call 9-1-1. She was smart enough to do that, but with the hotel phone system she had to dial “9” first to get out, and she basically could not get out to 9-1-1, and watched her mother die.

Ed:

Yep, I’ve heard the story, and I agree. Part and parcel of doing any project like this, selling it to a business is you’ve got to remember the end user is gotta go under the “keep it simple, stupid” rule. If they can’t use it without thinking, then it’s too complicated.

Ed on the Reality of People in Crisis, and What that Means for Emergency Preparedness

Martha:

We were recently reviewing documentation regarding legislation for Colorado, which talked about the enterprise call server, or administrators being able to provide written information to every employee. That they had to provide their phone number, they had to provide their location, and they had to provide information, during a crisis when they dialed 9-1-1. And, I thought I would love to get your perspective on that. Because, first of all, we’re talking about providing a piece of paper to every employee, which doesn’t include guests and visitors, and I’m sure that guests and visitors at businesses and facilities you’ve been to are certainly not provided with, “In case of emergency this is what you need to do, thank you for coming to our office” kind of thing. And secondly, I’d love to hear you talk again about the end user, and what’s actually happening to a call maker when they’re in crisis, and how just providing a piece of paper wouldn’t be sufficient, or also the mindset of the call maker.

Ed:

Ok, well that’s actually pretty straightforward. If I’ve gotta look for a piece of paper, I’m not going to. I’m not going to have time, that’s not on my mind at all. And I’m not going to think about, I’ve got to do this, and do this, and do this, and do this. I’m going to grab my phone and dial 9-1-1. Period. I want somebody to tell me what to do in this emergency. I want somebody to know I have an emergency. Unfortunately, people get very “tunnel-visioned”, and as a result people aren’t rational. They’re having the worst day of their lives. And, at that time, at that emergency, that’s exactly what it is, and they’re looking to us, and when I say us I’m talking the whole system, which would include the businesses, or the communities, or whatever, to take care of their emergency. Very simple, I need help, that’s what it’s gonna be, so they’re not going to go looking for a piece of paper. They’re not going to remember it. A product or a company that will automatically grab that information off a business phone is an excellent step. No matter where they’re at, it’ll get a physical location. We can do that now with our phones for Google Maps, we need to be able to do it for 9-1-1… They just dialed 9-1-1? That physical location information in three-dimensions needs to be there without thought, without any thought at all. And, it needs to be cut and dried. I don’t care what phone it is you grab. It could be the Bat Phone, but if you dial 9-1-1, you’re going to get the dispatcher based on the location. Does that answer your question?

Katie:

I was hoping if you dial the Bat Phone, you get Batman, but...you know.

Ed:

Well then he’s gotta call dispatch to get you an ambulance, so no!

About RedSky

This is the first of a three part series in which we discuss the importance of emergency preparedness with Ed Lane. Many of the issues Ed discussed above can be solved by implementing an E911 solution. If you have any questions about how you and your company can benefit from automatic location information, proper routing, and sophisticated notification systems, contact us at RedSky. We are the leading provider of on-premise and cloud-based E911 solutions with more customers, more technology, and more experience than any other provider. Our technology Finds, Routes, and Notifies in the case of any 9-1-1 call from your enterprise.

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